It’s not often we hear about men underestimating the size of er, something.

But apparently, asked to predict household bills, blokes tend to think they’ll be £20 cheaper than they are.

Women, on the other hand, are much better at guessing how much they owe for the credit card, mobile phone, energy bills or insurance costs.

The research, from comparethemarket.com, also found that energy bills prove the most shocking to both sexes, with one in three of us surprised our last bill was so high.

A fifth of us were alarmed by our motor insurance and tax bills but mobile phone bills seem to be the least surprising, with only one in ten claiming to be freaked out by them.

Julie Daniels, head of financial products at comparethemarket.com reckons: “Men appear less engaged with their household finances than women, underestimating their repayments more than females and yet, are less shocked when the higher-than-anticipated bill arrives.”

That’s probably a women are from Venus, men are from Mars thing but here, back on planet Earth, there have been shockwaves, as the big six energy companies have cut their prices.

The big six suppliers' price changes, 2015 and the date they come into effect are: E.ON down 3.5 per cent January 13.

British Gas down per cent February 27.

ScottishPower down 4.8 per cent February 20.

npower down 5.1 per centFebruary 16.

SSE down 4.1 per cent April 30.

EDF down 1.3 per cent February 11.

Source: uSwitch.com E.On was the first of the big six suppliers to break ranks and cut prices, while EDF was the last, dragging its feet like a sulky toddler being hauled around Tesco.

And actually, all six are still behaving like greedy toddlers, it seems.

Compare the average cut in price of four per cent by the big six to smaller supplier Ovo Energy, which has slashed its prices by more than double – at 10 per cent.

To add insult to injury, energy regulator Ofgem says the big six’s profit margins will go up from £105 to £114 per customer on a dual-fuel tariff over the next 12 months.

So, they’re going to make even bigger profits out of us, while pretending to help us out with their measly price cuts.

Pensioners in Cowley, Headington, Blackbird Leys or wherever might be afraid to turn on the heating in case the bill is too high but as long as E.On, British Gas, Scottish Power, SSE and EDF’s share holders are happy, that’s OK with them.

It’s a triple whammy for those of us who live in Oxfordshire because we are in an area with hugely expensive houses – the average property price in Oxford is now £357,00, which is 14 times the average salary of £26,000.

And that’s for all types of property, including flats. If you take the typical price for a house in the city, it’s now a staggering £395,000.

Renting in Oxford is also unaffordable, as having jumped by 15 per cent during the past five years, it is predicted to go up by another 21 per cent over the next five Average rent is now £1,113 per month but wages have not kept up and huge electricity and gas bills are another problem.

Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch.com, summed up: “After this month’s inadequate cuts to standard gas tariffs prices, the revelation that forecast profit margins are increasing will be the final straw for consumers.

“The big six are now officially out of excuses for not making double-digit reductions for standard tariff consumers.

“Ofgem figures are the latest evidence that to cut energy bills customers need to take matters into their own hands and switch to a more competitive tariff.”

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